Stock index futures signal sharp losses

By IBT Staff Reporter On 06/29/10 AT 6:08 AM

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 1.4 percent, Dow Jones futures down 1.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.4 percent at 0930 GMT.

* European stocks tumbled in morning trade, knocked lower by renewed fears over funding in the euro zone ahead of bank repayments to the European Central Bank this week. Banks must repay 442 billion euros ($545.5 billion) to the ECB on Thursday, leaving a potential liquidity shortfall in the financial system of over 100 billion euros.

* The FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 1.7 percent, while the Euro STOXX 50 , the euro zone's blue chip index, was down 2.4 percent, falling toward a key 23.6 percent retracement of the index's fall from its April high of 3,027.14 to its May low of 2,448.10.

* U.S. crude oil futures fell $2 per barrel on Tuesday as stock markets slumped and risk appetite dwindled on renewed worries over euro zone debt, while the euro slumped to a lifetime low against the Swiss franc, stung by liquidity concerns before the key euro zone refinancing program expires this week.

* Tropical Storm Alex was set to strengthen into a hurricane on Tuesday, delaying BP Plc's efforts to increase siphoning capacity at the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico where some companies evacuated workers.

* Japan's Nikkei average slipped 1.3 percent as exporters fell on a stronger yen, with the benchmark index poised for its worst quarter since Lehman Brothers failed in 2008.

* Spurned U.S. suitor Emerson Electric upped its cash offer for Chloride to $1.5 billion, seeking to tempt the British group away from a recommended $1.25 billion deal from Switzerland's ABB .

* Internet giant Google Inc said it plans to stop automatically redirecting users of its Google.cn site to its Hong Kong page, in a bid to secure renewal of the company's China operating license.

* On the macro front, investors awaited the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for April, due at 1300 GMT, and the Conference Board's June consumer confidence data, due at 1400 GMT.

* Political momentum was expected to carry a sweeping Wall Street reform bill to approval in the U.S. Congress, but the death of Senator Robert Byrd threatened to delay final action until mid-July.

* U.S. drugmaker Abbott Laboratories Inc is looking to sell its flu vaccine business in a deal that could fetch 500 million euros ($614 million), the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Shares of 3M Co rose 0.7 percent in extended trading on Monday after the company gave a second-quarter sales outlook, while shares of Micron Technology Inc fell 3.2 percent in extended trading after the company reported its third-quarter results.

* U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday, but the losses were cushioned by gains in consumer shares which rose after the government said personal spending rose moderately in May, exceeding expectations.